Last edit by: WineCountryUA
Types of Upgrades
UA's Upgrades overview
UA has multiple methods for upgrading to a higher cabin. Examples include: Economy to Domestic First, Economy to International Business or Business (ex-p.s. flights) or Economy to Premium Economy ("Premium Plus").
In this regard, seating in Economy Plus is considered Economy.
Not all upgrade methods are available on all flights (see table).
Paid/cash upgrades are a different mechanism and are only available if confirmable -- no waitlisting. Depending on methods, paid upgrades can clear into almost any fare class. If the class would otherwise be used for upgrades, the cash upsell can show up on the cleared upgrade list.
Plus Points and MUA (also called "miles+cash upgrades") are collectively referred to as instrument-supported upgrades, as they are considered with equal priority once applied. They may also be used on Copa (CM), Lufthansa (LH), and ANA (NH) flights.
Waitlisting for a premium cabin award and all forms of Economy Plus are not considered upgrades.
Upgrade Priority and Required Inventory
All upgrades other than CPU may clear immediately if the required inventory class is available. If you request an upgrade when there is not inventory to confirm your upgrade immediately, you will be added to the upgrade waitlist. The required inventory classes are as follows:
RN class is required for all upgrades to Premium Economy (United Premium Plus)
PN class is required for Instant Upgrades to Business/First from Y, B, and M fares for Premier 1K members, and for all upgrades to Business/First of any type for Global Services members.
PZ class is required for all other upgrades to Business/First except CPUs.
Note: The display of the upgrade lists is rather complicated at the moment. There seems to be more information available than usual, but its accuracy is disputed. The following is how it has historically functioned in terms of public visibility.
Passengers with unconfirmed upgrade requests will be added to the upgrade waitlist. This is not the same as the upgrade standby list which you can see on the Flight Status page. You cannot see this list by any means. The ordering of the upgrade waitlist is as follows:
Recent announced modification
United will periodically run sweeps from this list. The required inventory class for your upgrade does not need to be available in order to be upgraded from the standby list; passengers on the list will be upgraded at the discretion of United's systems. (You can also think of it as space was opened and then you immediately took it.)
Once check-in starts a new waitlist will be generated for use at the gate. The pre-gate list will continue to process until the flight goes to the gate, typically one to three hours prior to departure. This new list is the visible one on the Flight Status page. Generally they will have the same order, but there can be some differences in priority ordering of the two lists -- usually due to the time tiebreaker -- which is time of request for the pre-gate list and time of check-in (sequence number) for gate list. The visible (upgrade standby) list has only checked-in passengers and is not used until the flight is under gate control and the gate agent manually processes an upgrade.
The upgrade list sometimes also shows passengers who have been upgraded. Advance-cleared upgrades will not show on the gate list as cleared -- only passengers who clear after they check in will display with a green checkmark. Some paid Premium Economy fares may show as a confirmed upgrade to Premium Economy.
For both cases, display cleared upgrades will appear in alphabetic order and regardless if checked-in (as long as a seat has been assigned). Uncleared, waitlisted requests will appear, once checked in, in priority order. But until all have checked in, the visible gate waitlist is incomplete.
Upgrades and Companions
Main article: Comprehensive Companion Upgrade Questions
The following applies ONLY to the invisible upgrade list.
Up to one companion on the same PNR as you is entitled to a CPU based on your status. However, because PNRs must consist only of passengers with the same itinerary, you will only be eligible for an upgrade if all passengers on your PNR have the same upgrade eligibility. For CPUs, you may extend your CPU status to one companion, and then the system will take the status of the lowest passenger on the reservation.
This is a little complicated. Here are some example PNRs:
1K and non-status companion: both are eligible to CPU as 1Ks
1K and two non-status companions: no one is eligible to CPU
1K, Gold, and non-status companion: the companion gets "1K CPU status" but the Gold cannot, so all three pax have Gold priority
The situation for instrument supported upgrades is slightly different. Waitlisting an instrument is also all-or-nothing on the PNR. Either all pax must have a waitlisted upgrade, or none may. If you have a waitlisted upgrade for a multiple passenger PNR, it will have the priority of the highest Premier status on the reservation. Thus:
1K and non-status companion, 2x GPU applied: both are eligible as 1Ks with GPU
1K and three non-status companions, 4x GPU applied: all four are eligible as 1Ks with GPU
Multi-pax PNR upgrades are all or nothing - you may (or may not) be skipped over if there are fewer available seats than members in your party. If you do not like the treatment of your PNR, you may split it into smaller pieces at any time and be treated as smaller groups or individuals.
Now, what happens if you haven't cleared by check-in?
Multiple pax PNRs are not eligible for the (visible) upgrade standby list. If you wish to be added to the list, you must split the PNR at check-in. This often happens even if you didn't intend to. Note, however, that the hidden list is active until 3 hours before departure and splitting your PNR changes it. Therefore, you may wish to delay check-in until the airport. On the other hand, the tiebreak for the gate list is time of check-in, so you may wish to do so immediately. It depends on your situation.
Companions may be eligible for the upgrade standby list even after splitting the PNR, if it is split at check-in. The behavior of your companion(s) depends on whether the reservation had instruments applied. You may have one CPU companion, who will be waitlisted with your Premier priority but with an effective fare class below X (namely, last). If your companion was on a different PNR originally, or you want to designate a different companion, an airport agent can do that for you. Therefore, the list of 1Ks might be:
1) 1K on an S fare (you)
2) 1K on a K fare
3) Your no-status companion
4) Plat on a B fare
If your reservation had instruments applied, however, this process is different. In this case, if the reservation is auto-split at check-in, all travelers will have your Premier priority with their fare class. Say you are a 1K with three non-status companions, all with GPUs applied. Then you have
1) 1K on a V fare, GPU applied
2..5) you (1K) and your three companions on W fares, ordered by sequence number
6) Plat on a Q fare, miles+cash applied
Frequently Asked Questions
I was #1 on the upgrade list, but someone else got the upgrade instead. What happened?
The most likely answer is that the upgraded passenger was not checked in. Remember that the upgrade standby list (the visible list) only shows passengers who have checked in.
I'm #1 on the upgrade list but seats in the forward cabin keep disappearing. No one is being upgraded. What's going on?
There are two major sources of this. First, once your flight is within 24 hours of departure, it is eligible for SDC. Passengers with paid premium tickets can change to your flight and take seats. Many experienced flyers, especially FT members, underestimate the volatility of flight loads on the day of departure. Additionally, United usually makes a time-of-departure upsell offer available at check-in. Purchasers of this upgrade may often appear similar to last-minute revenue bookings.
I was waitlisted for I (or IN) class and did not clear. Am I now eligible for an upgrade?
"Upgrade" is the wrong terminology. You should be automatically placed on the standy list for business or first (whichever applies). Historically there have been problems with this occurring automatically, but that seems to have mostly been fixed. The exact priority compared to passengers who are waitlisted for an upgrade is unclear and a matter of some dispute. See discussion of GG ONESTANDBY lines 32-55.
Who are these people who are on standby lists for both Business and First?
These are non-revs (i.e., UA employees and family members) - either NRPS (non-rev positive space) or NRSA (non-rev standby). Non-revs can list for any cabin. NRPS are traveling on company business (e.g., deadheading pilots) and will clear into open space ahead of upgraders. NRSA travel standby and will be last in priority after all paid passengers. Why would someone be listed on both standby & upgrade list(s)?
Can you have one companion on a different PNR?
Yes, but only at the airport/gate and some agents are not familiar with the process. They are at the bottom of your status group.
Related threads
Ever see (+X blocked) in booked column on upgrade list?
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
[Consolidated] Chance of upgrade clearing on my flight
Decoding the alphabet soup - fare buckets for UA
Understanding the United Upgrade List Comprehensively [Archive]
UA's Upgrades overview
UA has multiple methods for upgrading to a higher cabin. Examples include: Economy to Domestic First, Economy to International Business or Business (ex-p.s. flights) or Economy to Premium Economy ("Premium Plus").
In this regard, seating in Economy Plus is considered Economy.
Not all upgrade methods are available on all flights (see table).
- Complimentary Premier Upgrades (CPU) are available for most North American flights, Central America flights, and some select Oceania flights.
"ex-PS" flights (EWR-SFO/LAX, BOS-SFO and v.v.) and Hawaii-EWR, IAD, ORD, IAH, DEN, GUM, MAJ and v.v. are not CPU eligible. CPUs are available for all paid fares and in some cases on award tickets with certain credit cards. A CPU is requested automatically for all elites as long as there is a maximum of one non-Premier as only one companion on the same PNR is also eligible for CPU. CPUs cannot be confirmed until inside the particular window:Global Services: 120 hours
Premier 1K: 96 hours
Premier Platinum: 72 hours
Premier Gold: 48 hours
Premier Silver: 24 hours- Plus Points (provided to Plats and above) are the upgrade currency of United elites. This wiki of this thread has more details about pricing of various Plus Points upgrades.
- Mileage Upgrade Awards (MUA) can be requested for all UA flights with a higher cabin on all paid fares. This a varying amount of miles and a $ copay (elites are exempt from the co-pay for CPU eligible flights) -- see UA award chart for details Note the miles and copay are due at time of the request and will be returned if unsuccessful.
- Instant Upgrades are space available for all elites on Y & B fares for CPU-eligible flights at booking. For Plats and below these require PZ space. For 1Ks and GS, this can be done on Y, B & M fares and requires PN space. 1K & GS, if not cleared at booking, will be waitlisted.
- Plus Points (provided to Plats and above) are the upgrade currency of United elites. This wiki of this thread has more details about pricing of various Plus Points upgrades.
Paid/cash upgrades are a different mechanism and are only available if confirmable -- no waitlisting. Depending on methods, paid upgrades can clear into almost any fare class. If the class would otherwise be used for upgrades, the cash upsell can show up on the cleared upgrade list.
Plus Points and MUA (also called "miles+cash upgrades") are collectively referred to as instrument-supported upgrades, as they are considered with equal priority once applied. They may also be used on Copa (CM), Lufthansa (LH), and ANA (NH) flights.
Waitlisting for a premium cabin award and all forms of Economy Plus are not considered upgrades.
Upgrade Priority and Required Inventory
All upgrades other than CPU may clear immediately if the required inventory class is available. If you request an upgrade when there is not inventory to confirm your upgrade immediately, you will be added to the upgrade waitlist. The required inventory classes are as follows:
RN class is required for all upgrades to Premium Economy (United Premium Plus)
PN class is required for Instant Upgrades to Business/First from Y, B, and M fares for Premier 1K members, and for all upgrades to Business/First of any type for Global Services members.
PZ class is required for all other upgrades to Business/First except CPUs.
Note: The display of the upgrade lists is rather complicated at the moment. There seems to be more information available than usual, but its accuracy is disputed. The following is how it has historically functioned in terms of public visibility.
Passengers with unconfirmed upgrade requests will be added to the upgrade waitlist. This is not the same as the upgrade standby list which you can see on the Flight Status page. You cannot see this list by any means. The ordering of the upgrade waitlist is as follows:
- All Global Services members (presumably prioritized similar to other members below), including those awaiting a CPU.
- For CPU eligible flights, Premier 1K members on eligible Y-, B- and M-class fares that were not cleared at time of booking are prioritized by fare class and then time of request.
- All travelers on waitlisted instrument-supported upgrades: Prioritized by Premier status of the traveler, then fare class and then time of request. There is no priority difference between types of instruments.
- For CPU eligible flights all remaining Premier members: Prioritized by Premier status of the traveler and fare class (award tickets are considered the lowest fare class)
Recent announced modification
Effective August 14, 2018, upgrade waitlists are processed in the following priority order:
- Premier status of the traveler
- Fare class
- Chase United MileagePlus Club cardholder
- United Corporate Preferred participant
- Time of request
Once check-in starts a new waitlist will be generated for use at the gate. The pre-gate list will continue to process until the flight goes to the gate, typically one to three hours prior to departure. This new list is the visible one on the Flight Status page. Generally they will have the same order, but there can be some differences in priority ordering of the two lists -- usually due to the time tiebreaker -- which is time of request for the pre-gate list and time of check-in (sequence number) for gate list. The visible (upgrade standby) list has only checked-in passengers and is not used until the flight is under gate control and the gate agent manually processes an upgrade.
The upgrade list sometimes also shows passengers who have been upgraded. Advance-cleared upgrades will not show on the gate list as cleared -- only passengers who clear after they check in will display with a green checkmark. Some paid Premium Economy fares may show as a confirmed upgrade to Premium Economy.
For both cases, display cleared upgrades will appear in alphabetic order and regardless if checked-in (as long as a seat has been assigned). Uncleared, waitlisted requests will appear, once checked in, in priority order. But until all have checked in, the visible gate waitlist is incomplete.
Upgrades and Companions
Main article: Comprehensive Companion Upgrade Questions
The following applies ONLY to the invisible upgrade list.
Up to one companion on the same PNR as you is entitled to a CPU based on your status. However, because PNRs must consist only of passengers with the same itinerary, you will only be eligible for an upgrade if all passengers on your PNR have the same upgrade eligibility. For CPUs, you may extend your CPU status to one companion, and then the system will take the status of the lowest passenger on the reservation.
This is a little complicated. Here are some example PNRs:
1K and non-status companion: both are eligible to CPU as 1Ks
1K and two non-status companions: no one is eligible to CPU
1K, Gold, and non-status companion: the companion gets "1K CPU status" but the Gold cannot, so all three pax have Gold priority
The situation for instrument supported upgrades is slightly different. Waitlisting an instrument is also all-or-nothing on the PNR. Either all pax must have a waitlisted upgrade, or none may. If you have a waitlisted upgrade for a multiple passenger PNR, it will have the priority of the highest Premier status on the reservation. Thus:
1K and non-status companion, 2x GPU applied: both are eligible as 1Ks with GPU
1K and three non-status companions, 4x GPU applied: all four are eligible as 1Ks with GPU
Multi-pax PNR upgrades are all or nothing - you may (or may not) be skipped over if there are fewer available seats than members in your party. If you do not like the treatment of your PNR, you may split it into smaller pieces at any time and be treated as smaller groups or individuals.
Now, what happens if you haven't cleared by check-in?
Multiple pax PNRs are not eligible for the (visible) upgrade standby list. If you wish to be added to the list, you must split the PNR at check-in. This often happens even if you didn't intend to. Note, however, that the hidden list is active until 3 hours before departure and splitting your PNR changes it. Therefore, you may wish to delay check-in until the airport. On the other hand, the tiebreak for the gate list is time of check-in, so you may wish to do so immediately. It depends on your situation.
Companions may be eligible for the upgrade standby list even after splitting the PNR, if it is split at check-in. The behavior of your companion(s) depends on whether the reservation had instruments applied. You may have one CPU companion, who will be waitlisted with your Premier priority but with an effective fare class below X (namely, last). If your companion was on a different PNR originally, or you want to designate a different companion, an airport agent can do that for you. Therefore, the list of 1Ks might be:
1) 1K on an S fare (you)
2) 1K on a K fare
3) Your no-status companion
4) Plat on a B fare
If your reservation had instruments applied, however, this process is different. In this case, if the reservation is auto-split at check-in, all travelers will have your Premier priority with their fare class. Say you are a 1K with three non-status companions, all with GPUs applied. Then you have
1) 1K on a V fare, GPU applied
2..5) you (1K) and your three companions on W fares, ordered by sequence number
6) Plat on a Q fare, miles+cash applied
Frequently Asked Questions
I was #1 on the upgrade list, but someone else got the upgrade instead. What happened?
The most likely answer is that the upgraded passenger was not checked in. Remember that the upgrade standby list (the visible list) only shows passengers who have checked in.
I'm #1 on the upgrade list but seats in the forward cabin keep disappearing. No one is being upgraded. What's going on?
There are two major sources of this. First, once your flight is within 24 hours of departure, it is eligible for SDC. Passengers with paid premium tickets can change to your flight and take seats. Many experienced flyers, especially FT members, underestimate the volatility of flight loads on the day of departure. Additionally, United usually makes a time-of-departure upsell offer available at check-in. Purchasers of this upgrade may often appear similar to last-minute revenue bookings.
I was waitlisted for I (or IN) class and did not clear. Am I now eligible for an upgrade?
"Upgrade" is the wrong terminology. You should be automatically placed on the standy list for business or first (whichever applies). Historically there have been problems with this occurring automatically, but that seems to have mostly been fixed. The exact priority compared to passengers who are waitlisted for an upgrade is unclear and a matter of some dispute. See discussion of GG ONESTANDBY lines 32-55.
Who are these people who are on standby lists for both Business and First?
These are non-revs (i.e., UA employees and family members) - either NRPS (non-rev positive space) or NRSA (non-rev standby). Non-revs can list for any cabin. NRPS are traveling on company business (e.g., deadheading pilots) and will clear into open space ahead of upgraders. NRSA travel standby and will be last in priority after all paid passengers. Why would someone be listed on both standby & upgrade list(s)?
Can you have one companion on a different PNR?
Yes, but only at the airport/gate and some agents are not familiar with the process. They are at the bottom of your status group.
Related threads
Ever see (+X blocked) in booked column on upgrade list?
Consolidated "Waitlist for Award Seats Questions/Issues"
[Consolidated] Chance of upgrade clearing on my flight
Decoding the alphabet soup - fare buckets for UA
Understanding the United Upgrade List Comprehensively [Archive]
Understanding the United Upgrade List Comprehensively {Archive}
#1696
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,483
Based on experience, I don’t know this is necessarily true. Almost seems like a gimmick UA is using to try and get people to buy PP as if true, I would have expected SFO-PVG today to go from J7 to J2 at T-23:55 and seen 5 PP seats open. Instead it went from J7 to J2 and only 2 PP seats opened suggesting 3 Y pax were upgraded to J and myself as a 1K on paid R fare with MUA applied was not upgraded. My hunch is MUAs have lower priority than GPUs and R fares do not Trump coach fares with GPUs applied.
While it's possible that the upgrade order is wrong, I don't believe for a second that it's because of an internal ranking of the instrument type. If there's a mistake, it would be in the ordering of the fares for doing the upgrades. Still, I think RobOnLI is likely correct here.
1. GS will be upgraded before you, including if they're in Y and not PP. It's highly possible there were waitlisted GS on this flight since it's out of SFO. Unless you're going to tell me the flight had "PN" open before T-24h in which case GS would have already been upgraded.
Furthermore, UA has shown that they are very willing to oversell the P+ cabin. The passengers who got upgraded could have been without a seat assignment, or the system could automatically have seated passengers who didn't have a seat assignment into the newly vacant seats.
#1697
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,350
Furthermore, UA has shown that they are very willing to oversell the P+ cabin. The passengers who got upgraded could have been without a seat assignment, or the system could automatically have seated passengers who didn't have a seat assignment into the newly vacant seats.
Flights to Asia are particularly interesting because they have the most unassigned seats of any flights out there. The population over there isn't used to picking seats for flights ahead of time whereas Americans/Canadians/Europeans are. So you wind up with seat maps that are truly not reflective of loads on most flights to Asia (China being the worst, IMO).
-RM
#1698
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,483
Absolutely true. My only UA OpUp in recent memory was last month on EWR-NRT when I purchased "R" and was seated in "J" because "R" was oversold by 5. They wound up only OpUp'ing two people as far as I can tell and it was first come first serve, not based on status at all. Me (1K) and a UA Gold got the upgrade because we had no seat assignments.
#1699
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
It's definitely possible. But remember two things:
1. GS will be upgraded before you, including if they're in Y and not PP. It's highly possible there were waitlisted GS on this flight since it's out of SFO. Unless you're going to tell me the flight had "PN" open before T-24h in which case GS would have already been upgraded.
-RM
1. GS will be upgraded before you, including if they're in Y and not PP. It's highly possible there were waitlisted GS on this flight since it's out of SFO. Unless you're going to tell me the flight had "PN" open before T-24h in which case GS would have already been upgraded.
-RM
Now, if PN opened, yes they would jump the list, but it appears as of 2 Saturdays ago that they run down the list in PP, then start on Y for battle ground upgrades.
#1700
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVPG, DL GM, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,266
It's definitely possible. But remember two things:
1. GS will be upgraded before you, including if they're in Y and not PP. It's highly possible there were waitlisted GS on this flight since it's out of SFO. Unless you're going to tell me the flight had "PN" open before T-24h in which case GS would have already been upgraded.
2. Not everyone selects a seat when they purchase a flight. It's very possible several people were ahead of you on the waitlist because they may be on "O" or "A" fares. Or even "R" fares booked before you.
PS - SFO-PVG doesn't even fly a plane with PP tomorrow. Both flights are 789s. Are you sure this isn't EWR-PVG? That's showing J2 with a PP-equipped plane for tomorrow. And, for example, EWR-PVG Is selling O4A4R3 but the seat map has six seats open. Tells me there are still a few people who haven't selected PP seats.
-RM
1. GS will be upgraded before you, including if they're in Y and not PP. It's highly possible there were waitlisted GS on this flight since it's out of SFO. Unless you're going to tell me the flight had "PN" open before T-24h in which case GS would have already been upgraded.
2. Not everyone selects a seat when they purchase a flight. It's very possible several people were ahead of you on the waitlist because they may be on "O" or "A" fares. Or even "R" fares booked before you.
PS - SFO-PVG doesn't even fly a plane with PP tomorrow. Both flights are 789s. Are you sure this isn't EWR-PVG? That's showing J2 with a PP-equipped plane for tomorrow. And, for example, EWR-PVG Is selling O4A4R3 but the seat map has six seats open. Tells me there are still a few people who haven't selected PP seats.
-RM
I could see GS instruments potentially being the issue here although exit US on a Thursday is generally quite light on premium loads from my experience. Additionally the second SFO-PVG flight left with empty J seats and was PN9 PZ9 for most of the past two weeks.
#1701
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Join Date: Oct 2003
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Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,350
The two GS who were #3 and #4 (We never found who was #2 ) on the list behind me who sat in Y, while I was upgraded to Polaris SFO-NRT would probably disagree with you.
Now, if PN opened, yes they would jump the list, but it appears as of 2 Saturdays ago that they run down the list in PP, then start on Y for battle ground upgrades.
Now, if PN opened, yes they would jump the list, but it appears as of 2 Saturdays ago that they run down the list in PP, then start on Y for battle ground upgrades.
Your comments seem to indicate that GS would be ranked based on their underlying fare class and that PP seats would be ranked first. That's quite possible and could be how it works for the airport list.
-RM
#1702
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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The poster we were replying to is talking about upgrades at T-24h which means this is not the airport list. As said, we don't know how this process works at the airport using the airport upgrade list. Until about T-3h (or even sooner), the airport upgrade list doesn't apply.
Your comments seem to indicate that GS would be ranked based on their underlying fare class and that PP seats would be ranked first. That's quite possible and could be how it works for the airport list.
Your comments seem to indicate that GS would be ranked based on their underlying fare class and that PP seats would be ranked first. That's quite possible and could be how it works for the airport list.
The two lists have always followed the same basic priority rules, with the only difference being how the last one is determined.
While I have not considered OP's situation in depth, I do tend to believe that the list processing is not always reliable and that inexplicable variations from the published rules do occur from time to time.
#1703
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,483
There is absolutely no reason to believe that the two lists are processed using such disparate rules. The difference between the two has traditionally been that the unpublished list calculates the "time of requesting upgrade" tiebreaker as time of applying instrument, while the gate standby list uses time of check-in.
They've published that they will clear upgrades from P+ to J before they will clear upgrades from Y to J. It is known that a Y->J upgrade for a GS member will clear into PN, whereas a P+ to J upgrade for a 1K member will clear into PZ.
Prior to the gate, if PN opens, the GS gets upgraded and the 1K gets skipped. At the gate, if their published rules are accurate, the order is reversed.
Now, I'm not saying that this makes sense, or is a coherent upgrade policy. However, if their published rules are accurate, it's the only thing that works.
#1704
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That's an anomaly based on GS upgrades clearing into a different fare bucket (which has always existed).
#1705
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Join Date: Oct 2001
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Posts: 21,483
It's effectively the same thing, though. It's entirely possible that a 1K on an O, A, R fare clears ahead of a GS on a Y fare at the gate, but that would be extremely unlikely prior to the gate even if there's no difference in the order of the lists, because UA will likely open PN space first.
#1706
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Idle wondering: how do advance upgrades work when positive space is blocked on the nonstop flight by married segment control (or whatever you want to call it)? Have an CR7 this week which is J2 when searched nonstop but booked 3/6 and J3 if you join it with an international segment.
Which count does the upgrade algorithm see? Currently J2 PN2 PZ0.
Which count does the upgrade algorithm see? Currently J2 PN2 PZ0.
#1708
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Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: MSP
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Posts: 14,461
Flight in question is UA6009 MSP-IAD (14-Nov) and I was quite surprised when I saw it booked 3 instead of 4. UA really, really hates selling tickets in and out of MSP At least the inventory block is a pretty darn sure way of saving a seat to the gate since I doubt they will TOD into it.... probably.
ed. to add IAD-FCO is embarrassingly wide open but marrying it produces J3 P3 PN2 PZ0. Shrug.
#1709
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,483
If we start seeing real married inventory behavior in the PZ bucket, the upgrade list becomes (relatively) meaningless. That would also be a huge deal for those of us who don't live in a hub and thus connect to our long-haul flights. (I suppose some would call it poetic justice: a lower 1K threshold, but it becomes even more difficult to snag advance upgrade space...)
#1710
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Nah, it would just suck. And more likely, UA would apply it as true married segment logic (as LH now commonly does with award inventory) - the connecting pax could upgrade, the hub captive could not.